Department of Justice

The federal government shutdown is having an impact on the prosecution of federal cases in Rhode Island.

U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha has had to furlough a third to a half of his 45-person staff because of the federal government shutdown. He said they’re managing by bringing in people who are working on the most urgent cases and then rotating them as the cases change.

The man at the center of a legal tug-of-war between Gov. Lincoln Chafee and the U.S. Attorney’s office over the death penalty will plead guilty to murder charges and will not face the death penalty.

U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha’s office says 35-year-old Jason Pleau will plead guilty by way of a federal indictment for the 2010 robbery and murder of a Woonsocket gas station manager. And as part of a plea deal his office will not seek a death sentence.

The Justice Department calls this “a new day” for the Rhode Islanders with developmental disabilities that were moved into segregated workshops and paid well below what they should have earned. The Department of Justice has settled with the state and city of Providence in a case involving some 200 workers.